Epithelial cells prefer to pack in a two-dimensional polygonal array that minimizes energy expenditure. However, because the arrangements of cells within tissues are intimately tied to tissue function, epithelial cell rearrangements occur frequently during development. Now, on p. 1385, Robert Simone and Stephen DiNardo begin to unravel how subsets of cells in the ventral epidermis of the Drosophila embryo realign into parallel columns that produce denticles, ridge-like projections in the cuticle. Using live imaging, the researchers show that column formation by these subsets of cells involves the alignment of their anteroposterior boundaries, shrinkage of certain cell interfaces, and the conversion of three-cell to four-cell junctions. In addition, they report that non-muscle Myosin II and the polarity proteins Discs large and Bazooka (Par3) exhibit a complex localisation pattern along the cell interfaces and that Myosin II or Discs large depletion disrupts junctional conversion and cell alignment. Together, these results suggest that actomyosin contractility and polarity protein function help to drive fine-scale epithelial cell rearrangements.

Other journals from The Company of Biologists

This poster and accompanying article from Niki Anthoney, Istvan Foldi and Alicia Hidalgo highlights the diverse, context-dependent roles that Toll/TLRs play beyond innate immunity in determining cell fate and differentiation, including during competition for light in plants and in neurotrophism and plasticity in the CNS.

Nicholas E. Baker and Nadean L. Brown review how gene duplication and divergence are interwoven with neuronal complexity in Drosophila and vertebrates, highlighting atonal as a platform for understanding proneural gene structure and regulation.

We are currently seeking proposals for four Workshops to be held in 2020. Do you have an idea for a Workshop? Please let us know and you could be one of our 2020 Workshop organisers. You focus on the science, we focus on the logistics. We are particularly keen to receive proposals from postdocs. Deadline date for applications is 25 May 2018.

Development is a proud sponsor of the upcoming Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Meeting, which takes place 11-15 August 2018 at the University of California, Santa Cruz . Registration for this meeting is now open!

Meet the preLighters! In the latest interview with our preLights community, the preLights team caught up with James Gagnon, Assistant Professor at the University of Utah, to talk about his research, how science can be made more open, his enthusiasm for the preLights project and the fun sides of being a junior PI.

To investigate which signalling pathways are regulated by nitric oxide during mouth development in Branchiostoma lanceolatum (amphioxus), Filomena Caccavale used a Travelling Fellowship from Development to visit The Oceanographic Observatory in Banyuls-sur-Mer, France, an area with a thriving natural amphioxus population. Read more on her story here.

Where could your research take you? Join Filomena and apply for the next round of Travelling Fellowships from Development by 25 May 2018.